The invention relates to meter box locking devices and is directed more particularly to a locking bar assembly for use in conjunction with one or more utility meter boxes and/or similar enclosures.
There is a growing need to secure electric meter boxes or other similar utility enclosures in order to prevent the theft of utility services. Theft of electricity by tampering with or bypassing the usual electric meter connections enclosed in such meter boxes is becoming more and more common, particularly since the cost of electricity has been rising rapidly. The losses in revenue experienced by utility companies due to theft have become very high. Further, it is desirable to secure the electric meter boxes because there is a great danger to those tampering with the electric meters inside, as current of potentially deadly magnitude is involved.
Accordingly, it has become increasingly important to take all possible steps to prevent the theft and attempted theft of electricity by securing meter boxes and locking devices have been proposed for this purpose. Examples of locking devices for electric meter boxes are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,096,718, 4,254,647, and 4,474,041. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,254,647 and 4,474,041 are assigned to The Highfield Manufacturing Company, the assignee of the present invention. In these examples, a bracket is secured to the meter box using a screw that either extends through a hole drilled through the meter box wall or impinges on the meter box wall. The screw is accessed from inside the box using a screw driver, or other tool. Many of the electric meter boxes are for single residences, and thus only one meter box is present.
Multifamily residences, businesses, and other multi-tenant buildings, however, can have a plurality of meter boxes grouped in “gangs” in a small area to minimize space requirements construction costs. Ganged meter boxes are usually wall mounted and close to, or even touching, one another. An individual locking device can be used to lock each meter box of a gang of boxes. Unfortunately, this is very expensive. Moreover, if all of the meter boxes must be opened for maintenance or repair, unlocking and locking each locking device on each meter box may be tedious and time consuming.
A multi-meter locking bar, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,911, can be used to lock a plurality of meters in a row of ganged meter boxes. Unfortunately, often the meter boxes at the ends of a row of ganged meter boxes abut a wall, or other object, providing little, if any, space between the end meter boxes and the wall, or other object. As a result, a locking device necessary for securing the end meter box must be mounted on the bottom of the meter box. Known multi-meter locking bars require fittings, or some other adapting device, that allows the locking portion of the multi-meter locking bar assembly to mount on the bottom of the meter box. Adapting the known multi-meter locking bar assemblies to mount on the bottom of a meter box is often difficult and specific to the particular application. Therefore, a need exists for a multi-meter locking bar assembly that is easily mountable on the side or bottom of a meter box.